Joel Lanning (born November 18, 1994) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is currently a graduate assistant for the

Iowa State Cyclones football The Iowa State Cyclones football program is the intercollegiate football team at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The team is coached by Matt Campbell. The Cyclones compete in the Big 12 Conference, and are a Division I Football Bowl Subdi ...

team. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. He was selected as a first-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 in 2017.

Early years

Lanning was a multi-sport star at

Ankeny High School Ankeny High School is a public high school located in Ankeny, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Ankeny Community School District, and serves grades 10 through 12. History AHS opened in 1913 and graduated six seniors in the spring of 1914. ...

earning all-state selections in football, baseball, and wrestling. In 2012 he won state championships in both baseball and football his senior seasons. As the three-year starting quarterback at Ankeny, Lanning had 7,642 all-purpose career yards.

Recruiting

After high school Lanning was very lightly recruited for football. His only two offers were

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

; he ultimately picked the Cyclones.

College career

2015 season

Lanning redshirted his initial college season and only played in one game on special teams his freshman season. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, he played in 11 games and started quarterback for the final five. He finished the season with 1,247 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns in addition to 330 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. His season highs included 162 passing yards on 11 of 22 attempts and 130 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

as well as throwing for three touchdowns and 210 yards against Kansas State.

2016 season

His junior season, Lanning was a threat through the air as well as on the ground. In addition to throwing for 1,290 yards and nine touchdowns he ran for 518 yard and led the team with 11 rushing touchdowns, this was the 10th most by FBS quarterbacks. He was responsible for 20 of the Cyclone's 39 offensive touchdowns and ended the season with a streak of 121 consecutive passes without an interception. Against Baylor he threw for 261 yards and two scores on 17 of 23 passes as well as running for 57 yards and an additional touchdown. Lanning had a career day against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

tying the school record for five rushing touchdowns in a game in addition to breaking the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 171 yards on 17 carries.

2017 season

At the end of the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

season Jacob Park took over as the full-time starting quarterback. In an unheralded move during the off-season, head coach Matt Campbell asked Lanning to switch positions from quarterback to middle linebacker. He was able to work up the depth chart and was the starting middle linebacker for the Cyclones opening game against

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. Despite starting on defense, Lanning continued to play special teams as well as wildcat quarterback in short yardage and goal line situations. He finished the season leading the team in tackles, second in tackles for a loss, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. Season highlights included eight tackles, 1.5 sacks, and an interception against Akron as well as 20 tackles against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Lanning was named the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week after a standout performance against #3

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

that included eight tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, nine rushing attempts for 35 yards and two passes for 25 yards. In the match-up against

, Lanning had five tackles, half a sack, in addition to throwing a touchdown to

Allen Lazard Allen Jamel Lazard (born December 11, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Iowa State University and was originally signed by the Jacksonvill ...

. At the conclusion of the season he was selected as a first-team All-American and named to the first-team All-Big 12.

College statistics

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Lanning was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

after the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

on April 30. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

San Antonio Commanders (AAF)

On October 12, 2018, Lanning signed with the San Antonio Commanders of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

References

External links

Iowa State Cyclones bioWill You Know No. 43’s Name By Time The Season Begins?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanning, Joel 1994 births Living people People from Ankeny, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football linebackers American football quarterbacks Iowa State Cyclones football players Dallas Cowboys players San Antonio Commanders players